1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to rotary apparatuses, specifically to rotary combustion engines, rotary pumps, rotary compressors, and rotary motors.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotary apparatus serves as a foundation of various internal combustion engines, pumps, and motors. Hundreds of patents have been issued in the United States alone for inventions of various rotary engines. Such a flood of inventions is not accidental as it is a known fact that about fifty percent of U.S. domestic oil consumption goes into automotive fuel, while fuel efficiency of commercial internal combustion engines is below 50 percent. Therefore, even a several percent improvement in fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines would be an economically justifiable goal. All attempts of prior art in the field of internal combustion engines have been directed to such a goal. Yet, it is also a well known fact that the reciprocal piston internal combustion engines have practically reached their technical/ecological limits in fuel efficiency, size, weight, specific power. The crankshaft and connecting rod mechanisms create a bottleneck that prevents reaching higher compression ratio (i.e. higher efficiency). Pressure value that combustion gas can exert on the total surface of a reciprocating piston is limited by the material strength of the connecting-rod and crankshaft. Reciprocal inertial movements of the piston and connecting-rod cause high inertial loads in the mechanical parts of a reciprocating piston engine, limiting high revolution rate (high specific power). Moreover, the connecting-rod passes large dynamic force onto the piston/cylinder boundary surface, which results in friction heat that accounts 8 to 15 percent in fuel waste and requires complicated lubrication and cooling system of engine cylinders to prevent burning of the engine oil. All this adds extra complexity, materials, and cost in traditional internal combustion engines.
Prior art discloses rotary engines in which rotors have radiancy or axially movable blades or fans which exert large mechanical pressure on the movable contact surfaces of the blades, complicating the rotary engine design. Known in prior art are also planetary rotary engines, yet in these designs the engine's rotor must perform complicated spatial rotations around more than one axis.
There are many various internal combustion rotary engine inventions, but only the Wankel rotor engine has been so far commercially manufactured to some extended degree. The Wankel's engine however has many disadvantages. For example, the spinning of the Wankel's engine is not uniform and the compression ratio is very limited. Therefore the high power density and the fuel savings are not obtainable in the Wankel engine. The Wankel engine has an extended combustion chamber that leads to incomplete fuel combustion and harmful exhaust into the atmosphere. In the Wankel engine, the rotor's pressure on the stator not only limits large compression ratio of the engine but also produces a lot of friction heat that requires intensive cooling of the rotor.